


The One with the Fake Dating

by thewaysofthefandoms



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Female Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-07-01 17:34:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewaysofthefandoms/pseuds/thewaysofthefandoms
Summary: Steve’s just so tired of everyone trying to set him up, and looking at him so pityingly because he’s sosadandalone.Enter his neighbor, Bucky Barnes, who’s having the same problem. The perfect solution? Fake dating, of course. What could possibly go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

“I’m just so tired of the way she looks at me.” Steve adjusted the phone against his shoulder as he loaded his breakfast dishes into the machine. “Like, ‘oh Steve, you’re so sad and alone,’ as if that isn’t completely her fault.”

Sam made a sympathetic noise, almost automatic at this point.

“It’s not...I’m not necessarily mad at her.”

Sam made a sceptical noise, like he always did.

He straightened up and leaned against the counter. “No, really, I’m really not. It’s not her fault that, like, the patriarchy or whatever represses women’s sexualities or whatever, and sometimes it takes a long time to figure that shit out.”

“Sure, but she also cheated on you and then basically left you with a three month old baby.”

“Yeah, okay, I… I’m a bit pissed about that part.” Steve conceded. He paced across the room and threw himself into his armchair in a huff.

“Maybe you do need to get out there?” Sam asked. Steve heard the familiar sound of Sam rearranging things on his desk. “I mean, it’s been a couple months, Jamie’s a little bit more independent now. What if you tried getting out there a little bit?”

Steve’s scowl deepened. “Not you too.”

“Alright, alright.” Sam conceded. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. You’ll always have us.”

If only that would stop Peggy from looking at him like he was pathetic. “Thanks, buddy.”

Someone murmured on the other end of the line. “Hey, I gotta go, I have group in two minutes. You have a good day, okay?”

Grunting out his goodbye, Steve dropped his phone in his lap and fell backwards, staring at the ceiling. Peggy wasn’t bringing Jamie back until tomorrow evening, and the apartment was frustratingly silent. His latest painting sat, finished, against the far wall, and a new canvas was ready on his easel, but so far it was frustratingly blank.

That left the gym.

He was tying his shoes when his phone started buzzing. Shuffling it out of his bag, he made a face at the stream of messages suddenly flooding the groupchat, the one that Clint had nicknamed ‘#TeamCap’ for some reason.

_**Natasha**  
You know what I just realized _

_Steve’s basically just living the first season of friends_

_You know when Ross’s wife turned out to be a lesbian and then also had his baby_

_Except I promise you’re way better than Ross_

_**Clint**  
if steve is ross who am i_

_**Natasha**  
You’re the awkward one so you’re Chandler_

_And I’m Joey cause I’m the flirt_

_**Wanda**  
Ooh, Sam is Monica! xD_

_**Sam**  
Why?_

_**Clint**  
group mom best cook_

_**Sam**  
*shrug emoji* Fair enough. _

_**Wanda**  
did you just write out the words shrug emoji_

_what is this, 2005??? LOL_

_**Natasha**  
Clearly Wanda is Phoebe cause she’s the weird one_

_**Clint**  
so steve needs a new gf she can be rachel_

_**Wanda**  
Steve! there’s this new girl at my gym, she’s cute AND she works out! _

_**Natasha**  
Did you call that girl with the nose ring like I told you_

With a snort and a roll of his eyes, Steve dropped his phone back in his bag. Maybe his friends were right, maybe he was wallowing a _little_. Even his mother was starting to get concerned. The last time he’d taken Jamie for a visit, she’d ‘conveniently’ been having lunch with one of the church ladies, who—surprise surprise—just happened to have a newly divorced.

But surely he was allowed to wallow for a least a little while. He returned to his shoes, tying them with perhaps more anger than was strictly necessary. Some time at the gym was sounding better by the second.

He was locking his door behind him when a voice called out, “Steve!”

Steve’s mood lifted slightly at the sound of his neighbour. “Bucky,” Steve said, turning around. “I didn’t see you there.”

Bucky was very put together, like she always was. With her bag over her shoulder, she was clearly also on her way out. “No baby today?”

“Nope, he’s with his mom for a little while.”

The wrinkle in Bucky’s forehead got a little more pronounced at the mention of Peggy. She had never said anything outright, but Steve knew she must have heard some things through their shared wall; Steve had never asked, but she had always seemed more sympathetic to him and colder to Peggy.

Shaking his head away from thoughts of Peggy once again, Steve refocused on Bucky, and he started to get a wild idea.

“Hey, I—was just about to go get a coffee from the corner, wanna join?” Bucky’s mouth twisted a little and it suddenly very important that she agree. “I’ll keep it quick, I promise.”

“Sure, I can spare one—,” she held up one finger with a little smile, “— _single_ minute.”

~~~

They settled a table in the window with their coffees, a simple latte for Steve and a sugary monstrosity for Bucky, piled high with whipped cream that she promptly stuck her nose into.

“So. What’s up?”

Steve took a deep breath, hunching over his coffee like it had all the answers. “This is gonna sound crazy,” he started.

Bucky’s eyes narrowed. “Not a great start… Go on.”

“I… Would like for us… tofakedate,” Steve finished in a rush.

Outside the window, typical Brooklyn foot traffic rushed back and forth. Somewhere behind Steve, a barista called out an order. Bucky blinked at him. “What?”

“I would like you to pretend to date me.” It was steady this time, as Steve settled on his idea.

“Yes, I heard you the first time. What.”

“Everyone is driving me crazy trying to set me up and looking at me all sad that I’m all alone or whatever,” Steve explained, relaxing back into his chair, “and this would get them off my back for a while.”

Bucky took a long sip of her coffee. Then she set it down purposefully and settled her hands of the table, giving him a serious look. “That is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.”

As Steve opened his mouth to rebut, she lifted her finger to stop him. “But!” She continued, “I am also single and being bothered about it by my parents, so this might help both of us.”

It was hard for Steve to imagine anyone bothering Bucky about her life; she seemed so put together all the time. “Really?”

“What the hell. Maybe it’ll get my mother to stop sending me pictures from weddings of people I went to high school with.”

“It’s mostly Peggy who’s the worst about it,” Steve admitted, “I’d really like her to stop with the pitying looks.”

“The woman who cheated on you and then shacked up with her mistress is giving you shit about your dating habits?” Bucky asked, incredulous. “Wow.”

Someday— hopefully sooner rather than later— it would stop making Steve cringe when it was laid out so bluntly. “Yeah, it’s a little crazy when you put it that way.”

They sat, both lost in thought, until Bucky broke the silence. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Uh. I… hadn’t really thought that far ahead,” Steve said. “Didn’t really think you would agree.”

Bucky snorted a little inelegantly. “Yeah, I’m not usually one for— ” she pulled a goofy face, “schemes. But my agent tells me I need to work on my acting, so this is the perfect opportunity.” She drummed her fingers against the table thoughtfully. “When is Peggy coming back with Jamie?”

“Tomorrow night.”

“Right, so… Okay. Why don’t I come over for dinner, and I’ll be there when she comes by.”

Steve nodded.

“And then later, we can go out somewhere and take a lot of pictures, post a bunch of social media PDA.”

Steve kept nodding. Bucky always seemed to see the big picture, while he was usually more suited to the details.

“My family lives in Wisconsin, they’re easy to deal with,” Bucky continued. “What about friends?”

Steve tried to imagine successfully keeping his friends in the dark about something they’d be so interested in. Then he tried to imagine any of them being able to keep something so major to themselves. “I’ll have to think about it,” he decided. “I don’t know if I’m a good enough actor to fool them.”

Bucky nodded. “All my friends are terrible gossips, it’s probably better we don’t spread this around too much.” She looked down at the time on her phone. “On that note, I have to go, I’ve got stuff to do.” Standing up, she took her coffee and her bag. As she walked past, she paused and narrowed her eyes at him before swooping down and planting a kiss on Steve’s cheek. Steve jerked back in surprise, and Bucky laughed at him. “Gotta start practising, right?” She chirped with a grin. “Have a nice day, Steve. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She was almost out the door by the time Steve collected himself enough to call back, absurdly loud in the quiet cafe, “See you then!” He shook his head and ignored the stares of the other cafe-goers as he looked down at his coffee. Two minutes in and scrambling already.

Standing, he reached for his gym bag and allowed himself a grin. If nothing else, this would get his ma to stop giving his number out to all her friends’ daughters. Suitably cheered by this thought, he departed for the gym with a new and sunny spring in his step.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone read chapter 1 right after it was posted I would recommend you go look at it again...apparently ao3 Does Not like emojis and it cut off a huge chunk of the fic. Just double check that you did see all of it. :)

Bucky stood in front of her closet for a long time, thinking. What does a woman wear to have dinner at her boyfriend’s apartment? Clearly if they were having dinner in, they were past the initial ‘getting to know each other’ stage, which implied a certain level of casual. But this would be the first time staying in together, which also implied, well. It implied matching her bra to her panties, probably.

She settled on a navy sheath dress with white lace along the sides, and a carefully neutral smoky eye. Gathering up her supplies, she exited her apartment and crossed the landing and knocked on Steve’s door. Time to pretend to date in front of a man’s ex-wife. Totally normal. 

She handed her groceries to Steve as he ushered her in. “I brought a lasagna, it needs to be baked for 45 minutes, and…” she stopped abruptly, “What…What is happening in here, Steve?”

Steve’s apartment was small, which she expected, but she wasn’t expecting it to be so empty. The front door opened into one large room, with the kitchen built into the wall on the left. Besides the baby stuff here and there, there was one sad folding table and chair to serve as a dining room, and one large squashy armchair and a laptop on a coffee table serving as the living room. 

Steve squirmed, visibly embarrassed. “Most of the furniture was Peggy’s? I just…never really bought new stuff.”

“Oh, Steve.” Bucky sighed. She walked around him to deposit her other bag on the kitchen counter. She pulled out a bagged salad and a loaf of garlic bread, then a bottle of wine. “Do you even have wine glasses, or should I go get mine?” 

Steve gestured to the far cabinet, then busied himself with the oven. Bucky pulled two wine glasses from the very top shelf, then rinsed the dust off of them in the sink. This was sadder than she’d thought. 

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” she started, opening the wine. “We’re going to get some pillows and we’re going to make a nest on the floor. Then we’re gonna eat all this nice food I brought, and we’re gonna watch Annihilation.” She poured two glasses and handed one to Steve. “And then I’m gonna help you get some new furniture because this is just really sad, Steve.” 

With dinner in the oven and a nest of pillows assembled, they settled next to one another with their wine, Steve propping up on one arm to grin at her. “How’s modeling?”

Bucky shrugged. “Same as always. I’m actually waiting on some big stuff right now.” 

“What kind of big stuff?” 

“Oh, you know, like big advertising stuff. I’m not really supposed to talk about it until it’s actually confirmed, though.” 

Steve nodded his understanding. Gesturing loosely at the painting propped against the far wall, she asked, “What about you, how’s the world of art?” 

“Oh, you know… it’s fine.”

“Hey—” she gestured at him with her wine glass, “no false modesty in this house. I go to your art shows, you’re a big deal now!” 

Steve shrugged, his cheeks getting adorably red. “Yeah, I guess.” 

“Do you have another show coming up? The last one was a while ago now…” 

“I actually had one last month.”

Bucky made a noise of surprise. Usually he invited the whole building to his shows. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I didn’t invite anyone. It was really… dark. I didn’t feel like it was a good representation of me.” 

“That’s too bad,” Bucky said, tilting her head and scrunching her nose sympathetically. “Did it get an ok reception, though?” 

“Oh yeah, it got good reviews and they all sold, I’m good for rent or whatever. I just felt like— I was in a dark place, and painting was a good outlet for it. But in the end I didn’t like what came out, you know? I’d rather the stuff I produced was more…” He lifted his wine glass, as if to offer it to the ceiling. “...uplifting.” 

Bucky nodded thoughtfully. 

“Like,” he continued, “the art I produce is an extension of me, kind of. And I’d rather look back on it and be proud of it. I want Jamie to look at what his Dad’s made and be proud of it.” 

“Isn’t it good to express all sorts of different emotions, though?” 

“Maybe I’ll look back on it later and feel differently. All I know is right now I’d rather put it behind me. Getting the emotions out on to the canvas was helpful for me, I think. But now that I’m through it, it’s better to move forwards.” 

The oven beeped suddenly, jolting them both from their thoughts. Steve pulled himself up to serve, giving the lasagna an appreciative sniff as he gripped the pan with a ratty towel. “Smells delicious.” 

“Thanks, I bought it myself.” Bucky quipped. 

Food served, they settled again. Bucky leaned forwards to mess with the laptop that doubled as the tv, trying not to dump hot food all over her lap. “Why do you live like this, Steve? Cause I know you can afford real furniture. I know how much people pay for your art.”

There was a long pause while she set up the movie. Turning around to sit back down, she glanced at Steve, who was staring off into the distance with a furrowed brow.

“You know I’ve never lived by myself?” 

Bucky blinked at the non sequitur. 

“I joined the army straight out of high school. And then when I came back, I moved right in with Peggy.” 

Bucky took a long sip of her wine, prepared to wait through the story. 

“I think… I almost don’t know how to proceed without her, you know?” Steve turned his head and looked at Bucky. “I thought I had my whole life planned out. Get married, check—“ he made the little check mark motion with his hand, “have a baby, check. When she told me she was leaving me, well…” he shrugged helplessly. “It just threw everything out of whack.” 

Steve sighed heavily through his nose, looking back off into the distance. 

Bucky cradled her wine glass in her hand, suddenly finding it difficult to look him in the eye. 

“I’ve never had a serious relationship at all.” 

Steve focused on her again, looking surprised. 

“If we’re sharing deep truths about ourselves, or whatever,” she shrugged, trying to lighten the atmosphere. “I’ve had a long string of boyfriends. But none of them ever lasted very long. I have three younger sisters, two of them are married, and I think my mom is worried I’m just gonna be alone forever.” 

They stared at each other for a for a long moment. 

Finally Bucky gave a full body shake and sat up straighter. “God, what an evening this has turned into!” She gave the laptop a nudge with her foot. “Let’s put this stupid movie on, fuck.” 

Steve laughed, relaxing backwards. “Yeah, let’s.” 

~~~ 

The buzzer sounded at exactly 7pm. “Always punctual” Steve muttered, as he got up to let Peggy in. 

Bucky braced herself. They had discussed it, and decided the best game plan was to play it very casual. She reached up to tousle her hair one more time, a nervous tick she had never quite gotten over. 

A few minutes passed as Peggy presumably traveled the three floors in between them and the front door. A polite knock sounded at the door, and Bucky climbed off the floor to join Steve at the door. She situated herself behind his shoulder just as he swung the door open. 

“Hello Steve—” came Peggy’s voice, “… and Bucky.” 

Bucky took in perfect Peggy standing in the doorway. It was literally Bucky’s job to look good at all times and yet she had never understood how this woman managed to be so put together at every turn. Even when she had been pregnant, her hair had always been immaculate. Today she was wearing a flawless lavender pantsuit, her face framed by large and soft curls.

Steve reached forward for the baby in her arms, who was already reaching forwards, babbling. 

“Yes, I’m happy to see you too!” Steve cried in his baby voice, which was disconcertingly adorable coming from a man of his size. 

Bucky pulled out her most charming smile for Peggy. 

“Hi Peggy, how are you?” she asked, with the most cheerful passive aggression she could muster.

“Lovely, thank you for asking.” Peggy replied. “What a surprise to see you here.” Her eyes darted around, clearly taking in the blanket nest and dirty dishes in the middle of the room. 

“Steve and I have been getting to know each other.” Bucky said with a shrug. She leaned forwards to wrap her arm around his bicep, noticing as she did how alarmingly large and firm it was.

Peggy smiled, looking— Bucky was happy to see— just a _little_ bit pained behind the eyes. “That’s so nice.” She turned her attention back to Jamie, leaning forwards to kiss him on the forehead. “Goodnight, my darling.” 

She straightened and turned to Steve. “He had dinner about an hour ago, and he did nap today, so he should be ready for bed soon.” 

Steve nodded in understanding, then reached forward and took hold of the stroller when Peggy pushed it towards him. 

“You two have a lovely evening.” Peggy said, turning away. 

“You too!” Bucky called after her, in her sweetest voice. 

Steve managed to hold on to his laughter until the door was closed, then turned to her and burst out, “Did you see her _face_!” 

His laughter was infectious. “I’ve never seen someone look so calm and so annoyed at the same time before.” Bucky agreed, chuckling. 

Seeming to notice her for the first time, Jamie babbled at her. 

“Yes, hello to you too, little dumpling.” Bucky replied to him. She marveled, as she always did, at the tiny personality he was quickly developing. 

Steve hefted Jamie in the air, to his squealing delight. “We gotta get you in your pajamas, it’s almost your bedtime!” 

“Why don’t I clean everything up while you do that?” Bucky offered. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I can clean up—“ 

“It’s no trouble.” Bucky cut him off. “It’s the least I can do since I brought a bunch of the mess with me.” 

It only took one more token protest before Steve was convinced, and he disappeared while wrestling Jamie away from grabbing a fistful of his hair. Once the dishwasher was loaded, Bucky collected up the blankets and pillows, realizing as she did that she’d never been in Steve’s bedroom. 

The bedroom was as sparse as the rest of the apartment, which wasn’t a surprise. She was surprised there wasn’t more art on the walls, since that was literally Steve’s job… but there were pictures. 

She stopped and picked up the one perched right in the middle of the dresser: Steve, Peggy, and several other men, all in army fatigues. They looked tired and sweaty, but happy, their arms around each other’s shoulders. 

She jumped as Steve entered the room. “Thanks so much for—oh.” He stopped abruptly. “That was our unit. ‘The Howling Commandos’ we called ourselves.” 

“I didn’t realize you and Peggy served,” Bucky said, quietly. 

“That was how we met; we were at basic together.” 

She put the picture back, gently. “I guess this is when I say thank you for your service?” 

Steve stuck his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunching up around his chin. “I guess?” 

“I’ve never heard you talk about it.” 

“Not much to talk about. I went, I came back.” He stared into the distance for a second, losing focus the same way he had when they’d talked about his past before dinner. Just as before, he gave a little start and focused back on her. “Anyway, as I was saying, thanks so much for this, again.” 

Bucky gave him her wickedest grin. “Oh, please, the look on Peggy’s face alone made this worth it so far.”

“Still, this is a weird thing I’m asking from you,” Steve said, reaching forward and grabbing her hand, “and I really appreciate it. You’re a real friend, Bucky.” 

Bucky looked down at their joined hands and then back up again. “You’re welcome.” She said, embarrassingly breathy. 

They locked eyes. Bucky had never noticed how blue Steve’s eyes were. You could definitely get lost in those babies. 

It was Steve who pulled away, finally, after what seemed like forever. Clearing his throat, he swung his arms awkwardly and turned away. 

That seemed like a clear a signal as any that the night was over. “Right, I should go,” she said, inhaling deeply. Steve followed her as she walked out of the bedroom and to the front door. She opened the door and turned in the doorway. “Goodnight, Steve,” she offered, smiling. “I’ll be in touch?” 

Steve nodded. “Sounds great. Goodnight, Bucky.” 

Closing the door behind her, Bucky made her way across the landing, shaking her head. That moment in the bedroom— in lingered in her mind, rolling across her like a wave. It had really felt like there might be something there. But… she couldn’t lose sight of the fact that this was all a ploy. Now was not the time for developing feelings, this was a favour for a friend and nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested Bucky’s dress is [here](https://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/lakeside-libations-sheath-dress-in-navy/103764.html#)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long but it’s here! Hooray!

Steve’s phone chirped early the next morning while he was trying to convince Jamie to eat banana mush.

_Bucky Barnes has requested to change your relationship status_

This must be the next stage of the plan. Grinning to himself, Steve swiped open the request, hit ‘accept’, and counted to ten.

_BZZZZZZZZZ_

He lifted the phone to his ear.

“Hi, Natasha.”

“Don’t ‘Hi Natasha’ me.”

Steve rolled his eyes as he wedged the phone under his ear and picked up the spoon again. Jamie was happily smearing more banana across his cheeks, oblivious to the drama of his father’s changing— and fake— relationship status.

“When did this start?”

“Um, like a little while ago?”

“Unacceptable, Rogers.”

“Mmm, sorry,” Steve said, not remotely sorry.

“Who is this girl? How did you meet her?”

“She’s my neighbour, actually. She’s lived across the way for… I think three years? You might have met her once at a gallery thing, you remember that one with all the orbs?”

“Mmm, I do remember all the weird orbs. Very tall, dark hair?”

“That’s the one”

“She said one of orbs looked like C3PO and then I couldn’t unsee it.”

“Yeah, it was a weird exhibit to share with.”

Jamie blew a raspberry around a spoonful of banana. Steve scraped his chin clean and tried again with a new spoonful while Jamie giggled.

“Did you know she has almost fifteen thousand followers on instagram?”

“Wha— are you googling her?”

Natasha made a _tsk_ noise like that should have been obvious.

“Don’t google her, that’s rude.”

“Your girlfriend’s basically a public figure, Steve, I’m absolutely allowed to google her.”

That was a surprise. “Really?”

“Did you not know she’s a model? She was in _Nylon_ , _Paper_ , hmm…”

“I know she’s a model. I… don’t know all those other words.”

“They’re magazines, Steve.”

Steve made a noise that hopefully sounded like _ah, yes, now that you mention it, of course I’m aware of the magazines that my not-girlfriend is in, what kind of moron wouldn’t know that?_

“Seriously, how long have you been dating someone and neglected to tell any of us?”

Uh oh. They hadn’t really discussed this, and Steve didn’t want to make up anything too specific. “Uh, like, a couple of weeks or so?” That seemed vague enough. Hopefully his uncertainty sounded like shyness and not actual uncertainty.

Natasha made a humming noise. “You know what?”

Her tone spelled bad news. “What?”

“You should bring her this weekend.”

Steve resisted the urge to audibly groan. He’d forgotten all about this weekend.

“It’ll be great.” Natasha continued. “She can meet the whole gang at once.”

“I don’t know, the relationship’s not that old, it might be a lot…”

“If you’re already facebook official, then she should meet your friends.” Natasha’s tone brooked no argument.

No other immediate rebuttals came to mind. “I’ll ask her.”

“I’m gonna go before someone notices I’m not actually working. Bring her!”

On that imperious note, Natasha hung up the phone. Steve swapped out bananas for cereal that Jamie was happy to wrestle with on his own before pulling up his texts.

_**Steve to Bucky**  
Bit of a situation _

_**Bucky**  
whats up_

_**Steve**  
I forgot that next weekend is the last weekend of August and every year we rent a house in the Poconos and go away for the weekend_

_**Bucky**  
and_

_**Steve**  
Natasha says I have to invite you and she’s very hard to argue with_

_**Bucky**  
I remember her Redhead knows everything very scary_

_**Steve**  
That’s the one_

_**Bucky**  
so I take it we’re lying to your friends then_

_**Steve**  
She didn’t give me much choice so I guess so_

_**Bucky**  
I actually don’t have any plans this weekend for once so poconos sounds like fun_

Steve put his phone down with a sigh. “Looks like I’m stuck.” He said to Jamie. Jamie offered him some soggy cheerios in return.

_**Bucky**  
We should go on a date first_

_Like a super pda filled date_

_We gotta get used to touching each other in public  
_

That hadn’t occurred to Steve. He hadn’t had any sort of romantic contact since Peggy. He wasn’t even sure he remembered what it was like.

_**Steve**  
That’s a good point_

_**Bucky**  
I have a magazine thing on Wednesday would that work_

_**Steve**  
When?_

**_Bucky_**  
_Like cocktail type thing  
After dinner _

_**Steve** _  
_I’ll have to get a babysitter. I’ll let you know_

~~~

Wednesday night found Steve sitting stiffly in the back of a uber, wearing a shirt and tie. It hadn’t occurred to him— although in hindsight it should’ve been obvious— that a cocktail party would require something that had at least been ironed.

Presumably noticing his awkwardness, Bucky looked over at him apologetically. “I’m sorry if this isn’t usually your type of thing.”

Steve shrugged, trying to roll the tension out of his shoulders. “It’s not like I don’t have to do this sometimes for art shows. I just don’t enjoy it very much.”

“Does anybody?” Bucky asked, smiling a little. “Hopefully it won’t be that bad. My friends will be there, they always manage to be a good time.”

It seemed like no time at all before the uber pulled up to an office building in soho. Bucky had a card on a lanyard that she swiped through various doors as they made their way to the roof, which contained a medium sized crowd and what Steve felt was an abnormal amount of potted plants. Scanning, Steve felt very out of place in this crowd of very fit and very attractive people.

As they stood in the doorway, a slight woman with dark hair came rushing out of the crowd towards them at alarming speed.

“Bucky!” she shouted, just as Bucky shouted, “Jan!”

With a surprising amount of force for such a small woman, she threw herself at Bucky, who caught her like this happened a lot.

“When did you get back into town!?” Bucky exclaimed, pulling away.

“Today! I wanted to surprise you!” With their hands on each other’s elbows, Bucky towered almost a foot over Jan.

“Well, it worked,.” Bucky said, laughing.

Bucky turned to Steve. “Steve, this is my best friend, Jan Van Dyne. She was in San Fran having a baby, but now she’s back, apparently.” Bucky looked back down at Jan. “where’s Hank?”

Jan waved her hand dismissively. “He hates these things.” She focused her attention on Steve. “So, who are you, Steve?”

Bucky answered before Steve could even open his mouth. “Steve is my boyfriend

Jan’s gaze sharpened on Steve as she detangled herself from Bucky and turned to him to shake his hand. “Boyfriend, huh?” Her smile turned into more of a smirk and she leaned forwards conspiratorially. “Bucky hasn’t had a boyfriend in a while.”

Bucky squeezed herself in between them before Steve could answer, her hands up defensively. “And that’s totally fine, and there’s no reason to be weird about it, nope.”

Steve leaned around her. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jan.”

Bucky grabbed Steve’s hand and began pulling him away, muttering about alcohol. “Don’t think you can escape me!” Jan called after them.

The setting sun casting beautiful colours across the slowly growing crowd. Steve noticed Bucky kept a hold of his hand as they maneuvered; he tried not to think about whether his hands were sweaty or not. Someone shouted Bucky’s name and she turned, tugging on Steve’s hand again. A small group near the edge of the roof were waving; Bucky waved back and started towards them.

Bucky reached the three women, introduced them as “Maria, Darcy, and Sharon,” and gestured behind her, “this is Steve.”

Steve waved in greeting. Although not exactly identical in looks, all three women were identically beautiful and intimidating . They stared at Steve like they definitely _could_ eat him, but hadn’t decided yet.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Steve,” Sharon began, “we’ve been waiting to hear more about you.” She shot Bucky a pointed look.

Bucky rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, later.” She waved her free hand in the air dismissively. “Who are we here to impress?”

The blonde one, Sharon, leaned forward conspiratorially. She jerked her chin towards somewhere behind Steve. “Pierce.”

The four women grimaced in unison. Steve wrinkled his forehead, questioning.

“Alexander Pierce, editor of Hydra magazine?” Maria explained, noting his confusion. “He’s a big name so we have to work with him, but he’s, um…unpleasant.”

“He’s gross.” Darcy added, more bluntly.

“Everyone always feels gross after they have to deal with him.” Bucky said, making a face.

“Gross how?” Steve asked.

“I dunno, like you just wanna take a million showers.”

Steve looked over his shoulder, trying to see if he could tell who they were talking about. Bucky looked the same way, searching. “There,” she gestured with her chin, “old guy, blue suit, glasses.” Steve spotted him as the others craned their necks to look as well. Pierce was in conversation with several other men in suits.

“Gross,” the women chorused again.

Apparently dismissing Pierce’s grossness as no longer worthy of conversation, Darcy zeroed back in on Steve. “So anyway, we want to hear about you, Steve.”

“I don’t think there’s that much to hear,” Steve said, shrugging awkwardly.

“Ridiculous.” Sharon said. “Bucky said you’re an artist?”

“Uh huh.”

“What kind of art?” Maria asked.

“Acrylics, mostly. Sometimes oils.”

“And charcoal,” Bucky interrupted. “That show you did of everything just in black and white? That was amazing.”

“That was such a long time ago.” Steve said, taken aback. “I’m surprised you remember it.”

Bucky gave him a look like he was an idiot. “Of course I remember it. I remember all of your shows.”

Darcy made a cooing noise. “You two are so cute.”

Steve was suddenly hyper aware of Bucky’s hand, still entwined with his. It was very soft and her fingers were very long, he noticed. He could feel his whole face heating up, to his mortification.

He was saved, thankfully, by a voice at his elbow.

“Excuse me, sorry to interrupt,”

A lean, unassuming man nodded his greeting to the other women, who acknowledged him with a chorus of hellos. Bucky gestured to Steve. “Phil, this is my boyfriend, Steve. Steve, this is my agent, Phil.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Phil said, sticking out his hand for a handshake. “I’m afraid I have to steal Bucky for a minute, I have some people for her to talk to.”

Steve raised his hands in a ‘go ahead’ gesture and untangled his fingers from Bucky’s with a twinge of inexplicable regret. Bucky dropped her hands but turned her face towards Steve, expectant, while Steve blinked at her, not comprehending. She rolled her eyes at him, smiling a little, before leaning forwards and planting a kiss on his lips.

He remembered suddenly that this was a thing they were doing. Kissing. On the mouth.

Bucky’s hand on his face jolted him out of his stupor. Blinking stupidly, he looked into Bucky’s eyes, closer than he’d ever seen them. They were blue, he noticed. Blue-ish grey. He was pretty sure his face was all red again.

Bucky pulled away, but not before rolling her eyes at him again like she thought she was an idiot. She was probably right about that.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She promised, before disappearing into the crowd.

Steve turned slowly to find the three women staring at him, not speaking. Steve stared back, doing his absolute best not to fidget with his tie.

“So…” Sharon started, “how long have you two been dating? Bucky really hasn’t told us anything.”

“Yeah, I uh…just got out of a bad divorce, I asked her to keep it low key for a while,” Steve said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

The three women nodded sympathetically. “That’s more Bucky’s style anyway, I think,” Maria agreed, “she’s not one for ceremony, generally.”

“Yeah!” Steve agreed, emphatically. “That’s what I like about her, I think. You know, we were neighbours for probably a year before I even found out about—” he gestured around, “all of this.”

“Bucky’s definitely not a bragger.” Darcy said, nodding as she took a sip of her drink.

“Steve!” someone shouted. Steve turned to find Jan again, standing right behind him.

“Maria, Sharon, Darcy, how are you all?” Jan said, joining their circle. The women chorused their greetings back to her, and Steve listened for a while as they discussed Maria’s wife and Darcy’s new boyfriend. Sharon disappeared, looking for a drink refill. Eventually the attention turned back to Steve, as Jan asked, “Bucky said you have a baby, Steve?”

Always ready to talk about Jamie, Steve replied, “Yeah, Jamie.”

The women made adoring noises. “Do you have any pictures?” One of them asked.

Steve dug for his phone. Steve’s most recent set of Jamie photos so far were from last week. Steve’s ma had given him a set of plush alphabet blocks and Jamie had a grand old time throwing them around. He handed the phone to Jan, while the other women crowded around.

Jan looked up at him and gestured for permission to keep scrolling through the pictures; he waved in acquiescence. Shuffling his feet, he looked around the party again, wondering where Bucky had disappeared to.

An exclamation brought his attention back to the women. Looking up from the phone, Jan asked, “did you paint this?”

Steve craned his neck to see the image, before shrugging an affirmation.

“That’s amazing.” Maria exhaled, almost reverently.

“That one’s pretty old, actually.” Steve had dug the picture out to put on his website. He’d always liked that one, from a whole series he’d done of the New York skyline.

“I like the colours a lot,” Jan said, “you have a good eye.” She eyed him up, curiously.

“I gotta say, when Bucky said ‘artist’ I assumed you were like, a graphic designer or something” Darcy said, irreverent. “But that’s actually pretty cool.”

Steve tilted his head. “Thanks?”

Maria smacked Darcy in the arm, rolling her eyes. “We’re all very impressed, is what she’s trying to say.”

Jan handed Steve back his phone. “And you also have a very cute baby.” She said.

“Bucky said something about you being on mat leave?” Steve said, remembering.

“Yeah!” Jan said, delighted. “My daughter’s eight months old, her name is Hope. I have new pictures?” she asked the other women, who responded enthusiastically.

As she pulled her phone out, Steve looked around the party again, wondering where Bucky had gone. He gamely looked through pictures for the next few minutes, comparing Hope’s growth to Jamie when Jan asked. Hope was two months older, of course, so she was bigger, but privately Steve thought Jamie was cuter.

They were discussing how much Hope hated peas and how Jamie was indifferent to cauliflower when Bucky reappeared.

“You lost the others” Bucky stated, laughing.

Steve looked up, realizing Maria and Darcy had disappeared at some point while he and Jan were engrossed in baby talk.

“I like your boyfriend, Bucky.” Jan said, “I love people who are willing to hear about my baby.”

“You’ll have to bring her to meet me soon.” Bucky said. “Is she even here in the city?”

“Oh no.” Jan dismissed immediately. “She’s still in San Fran with Hank. But—” she clasped her hands excitedly, “I’m actually here looking at real estate, so we can go back to going back and forth.”

Bucky’s face lit up in excitement. “Really?”

“Really really!” Jan cried out, and the two hugged excitedly.

“I’m gonna—” Steve gestured over his shoulder towards the bar. Bucky acknowledged him briefly, engrossed with Jan. Steve turned away and headed away through the crowd.

He was waylaid before he reached his destination by an aggressive drunk in a tank top with a look in his eyes that Steve didn’t like.

A little two close for Steve’s comfort, he asked accusingly, “so you’re Bucky’s new boyfriend?”

“Sure,” Steve asked, on guard. He didn’t like this guy’s attitude and he didn’t particularly like his tone of voice, either.

“Who are you, exactly?” he asked, slurring.

“Who are _you_?” Steve countered.

“Brock” said Brock, like this explained anything. He was swaying a little even as he tried to loom over Steve.

There was a long pause. “…Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Steve folded his arms across his chest. “Because it doesn’t.”

“You better stay away from her” was Brock’s only response before he staggered into the crowd.

Steve stood there for a brief second before Bucky appeared at his elbow. “Oh god, was that Brock?” She asked, sounding worried. At Steve’s nod, she said, “that’s my ex boyfriend, he’s a creep. I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, I kinda gathered.”

Bucky exhaled ferociously. “Do you wanna get out of here?”

“Please,” Steve intoned, relieved.

~~~

They ended up at a pizza place down the block. This late, it was sparcely populated with mostly college kids and people on their way home from parties, like themselves. Taking a big bite, Bucky started, “I’m sorry that was kind of a drag.”

“Eh,” Steve shrugged, “I liked meeting your friends.”

Bucky chewed thoughtfully. “I’m sorry again about Brock, too. He’s a real asshole.”

“You dated that guy?” Steve asked, incredulous.

“Embarrassingly, yes.” Bucky put down her pizza and fiddled with her napkin. “Everyone around me could see what a bad idea it was except me. It ended up scaring me away from dating for a long time.” She shot Steve a look he didn’t understand. “That was why my friends wanted to meet you, too.”

“Well, I’m happy to meet friends that care about you that much.”

Bucky went back to her slice, seeming to have no response to that. Steve finished up his pizza quietly, digesting this new side of Bucky he’d never seen before.

“Thanks for coming, Steve.” Bucky said, quietly.

Steve looked up. She was staring inscrutably, with a quiet focus that scared him a little. They held eye contact for a long moment, neither of them saying anything, until someone made a loud noise on the other side of the room, and the moment was lost.

Quickly, almost frantically, Bucky began gathering up her things across from him. “Would you look at the time,” she said, almost comically, “I should go, I have work tomorrow, thanks again for everything, goodnight!” And before Steve could blink, she had disappeared out of the restaurant and into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no there's OnLy oNe BeD whatever shall they do

The lake house was pretty much as picturesque as it could possibly be. Located at the end of a long, winding driveway, it was surrounded by trees, giving the impression of total isolation. Climbing out of the car, Bucky could hear the sounds of the lake somewhere.

“Oh, let me-” she started, hurrying around to where Steve was already lifting bags out of the trunk. Their hands touched as she reached towards her suitcase and they both paused, awkwardly. They looked at each other for a long moment before uncomfortably jumping apart at the sound of Sam slamming the car door.

“I can get them.” Steve said, before shouldering a bag and looking away pointedly. Bucky stubbornly grabbed her own suitcase before following him up the driveway towards the house.

They stopped on the front porch and Steve leaned through the front door to yell an indistinct greeting. Bucky heard muffled yelling in response before Steve pulled back and a redheaded woman appeared.

“Bucky, this is Natasha.” Steve said, gesturing, “and behind her somewhere is Clint. We’re unloading the food, come on.” and he turned and walked back to the car. Natasha walked past Bucky, shooting her an inscrutable look. Behind her came a stocky blond man, who said “you must be Bucky,” while wiggling his eyebrows.

Bucky made a face right back; someone yelled from behind her, “Clint! Get your ass over here and help!” Clint turned away, continuing to spasm his face wildly; Bucky thought maybe it was supposed to be seductive? If it was it wasn’t working.

Luggage was gathered in short order and hauled up the driveway. Bucky gathered her own stuff but stopped awkwardly in the front entry. Various people were moving in and out, carrying things; Sam stopped next to her, holding a cooler, and pointed up the spiral staircase with a wink, “If you move fast you can dibs the master bedroom.”

Never one to turn down a private bathroom, Bucky hustled up the stairs and opened doors till she found what was obviously the master; it was huge, and had an entire wall of windows facing out into the trees and the lake beyond. She’d dumped her suitcases on the… bed. The solitary bed. Which she and Steve would have to share. Oh.

They hadn’t really talked since Bucky had run away on Thursday night. She’d been on the brink of something terrifying; a chasm of emotion that she wasn’t willing to face. Thus, she’d run away instead, and the only contact they’d had since then was to confirm she was still coming this weekend.

She didn’t know how to deal with the emotions that Steve caused. He made a fire burn in her belly unlike any she’d felt before. She wanted to see him all the time. She wanted to tell him things she’d never told anyone. The feelings threatened to overwhelm her and break down the walls she’d so carefully constructed, and she didn’t like it. And now she was going to share a bed with him for four days. Fuck.

~~~

They regrouped around the kitchen island after the rest of the rooms were allocated. Wanda and Vision got the other queen bedroom, Natasha and Sam were going to share the room with the two singles, and Clint apparently “just kind of sleeps wherever,” according to the rest of the group.

“Wanda’s bringing that DJ again,” Natasha said.

“Oh,” Steve responded from next to Bucky, “what’s his name again?”

“Paul.” Natasha said, rolling her eyes, “but he prefers to go by _Vision._ ”

“Oh I think I know that guy.” Bucky said. “He DJs at this club I go to sometimes. Or like, I know of him. I don’t know him personally.”

“He seemed nice” Steve said, making a thoughtful face. “It must be pretty serious, if she’s bringing him again.”

From behind her, Sam asked the room at large, “Anyone want a drink?” Bucky turned to see him standing in front of the fridge holding a six pack. There was a chorus of agreements. Bucky happily accepted a beer and cracked it open as she followed the crowd as they migrated onto the back porch.

Steve slung his arm around her shoulders on the couch like it was the most natural thing in the world. Bucky tried not to squirm.

“It’s sure a change of pace from the city, huh?” Steve said, turning his face to hers. She didn’t want to turn and have her face be three inches away from his, so instead she focused staunchly on the horizon. She hummed in agreement, and he ended up with a nose full of hair, probably.

She searched her mind for something to say. Natasha was the closest to her and not involved in a different conversation, so she ventured, “so Steve told me you work for Stark Industries?”

“In a manner of speaking, sure.” Natasha was indecipherable. Bucky regretted everything immediately.

That also cleared up nothing. “Oh?”

“Sometimes I work for Tony Stark, sometimes I don’t.” Natasha tilted her head and smiled serenely.

“I met him at a party once.” Bucky volunteered.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, it was a while ago now; before he cleaned up his act.” She took a sip of her drink, contemplative. “He never seemed like a bad guy, though. Just a flirt.”

Natasha made a questioning noise.

“Like.” Bucky gestured with her beer. “I’ve met dudes that are gross. Lots of dudes think that models are also slutty, or whatever. I never got that impression from him. Just that he liked pretty people and he liked sex.” She shrugged, “nothing wrong with that.”

Natasha hummed, nodding. “You’re a very good judge of character.”

Bucky looked over to see Natasha was looking at her, her stare unreadable.

“Thank you.” Bucky remembered to say. “Somebody’s gotta keep an eye out for Steve,” she continued, laughing.

“I’m still here, you know.” Steve rejoined from next to her.

“Mmm, yep, I know,” Bucky said, patting his knee.

Someone yelled from the front of the cabin. Sam yelled back at them that they were on the porch, and small dark haired woman and a tall blonde man emerged from within.

“Bucky, this is Wanda,” Steve said, gesturing, “and this is her boyfriend, Vision.”

Bucky waved a greeting. Vision disappeared, probably to deal with luggage. Wanda collapsed dramatically onto a chair and launched into a retelling of their drive here, which apparently was fraught.

Bucky let the conversation wash over her. She missed Jan, suddenly; it’d been a while since a conversation like this, where you didn’t need to fill in every detail, because you were on the same wavelength, always.

~~~

She ended up cornered in the kitchen with Sam and Natasha, somehow. She turned around from getting another beer out of the fridge to find them standing behind her, arms crossed, faces carefully neutral.

“What’s happening.” She looked back and forth between them. “Is this- is this an interrogation?” She laughed slightly, but neither of them looked amused.

“What are your intentions with our boy?” Sam asked.

“My inten-what? Is this a shovel talk?”

“Listen, Bucky.” Natasha said, adjusting her stance to lean back against the counter. “Steve hasn’t dated anyone since the divorce.”

“Understandably.” Sam added. “And you seem very nice-”

“-we’re just wondering what your plan is, that’s all.”

Backy drew back, offended. “Excuse me?” she asked, incredulous. “My _plan_? What do you even _mean_?”

It didn’t matter that they were technically right to be suspicious; her hackles were up now. “I think it was you people-” she was still standing in the open fridge. She shut it completely and straightened up, gesturing with her beer bottle. “-who kept telling him he should get out more. So maybe pick a side, thanks.”

Sam raised his hands in surrender. “You’re right about that” he acquiesced. “We just worry, that’s all.” Natasha just stared, saying nothing.

Bucky took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Well I appreciate that he has someone who cares this much,” she allowed.

They turned as a voice came from the doorway, “also Steve’s an adult who can take care of himself.” Steve stood there, looking mildly annoyed.

“Just looking out for you, man.” Sam and Natasha exchanged a look before turning and leaving the room, brushing past Steve as they did.

Steve walked right up to Bucky and leaned into her space, looking amused now. “Do you always get so fired up when someone impugns your honour?”

Bucky rolled her eyes at him. “I’ve got three younger sisters; someone’s gotta be the one to do it.”

“I’m perfectly capable of defending my own honour.”

“Somehow,” she said, grabbing his hand as they left the room, “I think you might have the opposite problem.”

~~~

She left the group after a while to go sit in the bedroom. She didn’t think anyone minded; they barely knew her, after all. They deserved some time without her hanging around. She sat down on the bed with a huff and pulled her phone out to text her sisters:

_**Bucky to Barnes Sister Sqwad**  
Ok this cabin is so nice I don’t know what I’m doing right now_

While she waited for someone to respond, she read back through the messages from after her facebook announcement, when the girls had found out about Steve.

_**Becca to Barnes Sister Sqwad**  
BUCKY seriously answer your phone what the fuck _

**_Jackie_ **  
_what’s going on_

 ** _Sophie_**  
_jackie do you never go on facebook bucky has a boyfriend_

 ** _Jackie_**  
_ooh a boyfriend_

 ** _Becca_**  
_yeah a SECRET boyfriend_

_do mom and dad know about this_

**_Sophie_**  
_mom would’ve mentioned it to me yesterday so no_

 ** _Jackie_**  
_mom’s on facebook though she must know_

 ** _Becca_**  
_there’s a picture of him with you at a party last night so like_

_how serious is this_

_who is he_

**_Sophie_**  
_ooh he’s cute and also an artist_

_a good one too_

**_Jackie_**  
_Soph are you facebook stalking him_

_send a picture_

**_Sophie_**  
_~image~_

 ** _Jackie_**  
_Whoa_

_He’s built_

**_Sophie_**  
_~link to Steve's portfolio~_

_**Jackie**  
Oh and talented _

Her sisters’ response had been entirely predictable. Her whole family had been badgering her about getting back in the dating pool for a while; she was lucky her mother wasn’t involved yet.

_**Bucky to Bull**** Sqwad**  
Mom’s probably just respecting my privacy, unlike you three nosy bastards_

_**Becca**  
if you hadn’t kept it a secret we wouldn’t have to do this_

_**Sophie**  
if it’s open to the public then it’s not stalking, please and thank you_

_**Jackie**  
how DARE _

_You’re the bastard, you bastard_

_**Becca**  
spill pls_

_**Bucky**  
he lives across the hall from me _

_we’ve been dating a little while and he’s nice._

_What more do you want from me_

_**Sophie**  
WAIT_

_is this the hot dad_

_**Jackie**  
home-alone-face.gif_

_**Becca**  
oh shit Bucky he’s so out of your league_

_last time I was at your place he carried all my luggage up all those stairs and he was so polite the whole time_

They might be right. Steve was certainly miles above any other guy she’d dated in the past.

Her phone jumped back to the bottom of the thread as a new message appeared.

_**Becca**  
Bucky are you freaking out because you’re afraid of intimacy and meeting his friends suddenly feels too serious _

Well that was uncalled for.

_**Bucky**  
No_

_What are you talking about_

_I’m not afraid of intimacy_

Becca simply sent back a gif of Oprah rolling her eyes.

_**Bucky**  
Shut up_

She keeled backwards slowly until she was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Was she afraid of intimacy? Brock had fucked her over, that was certain. Like the person she’d been before had been entirely erased and a totally new person created instead. And now she felt like she was relearning how to be a person again.

Steve helped with that, she thought. Steve didn’t have any expectations. He didn’t know the Bucky from before well enough to insist that she be that Bucky again, the way that her family wanted.

But what was she even doing here with Steve? They weren’t actually dating. She’d signed up for what seemed like sorta a fun way to get everyone off her back and play a trick on Steve’s mean ex-wife, and now she was having all these feelings that she didn’t like.

There was a soft knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called, craning her neck up towards the door.

The door opened a little ways and Steve stuck his head through. “We’re gonna start barbequing for dinner now, I thought I’d come check up on you.” He entered the rest of the way into the room and closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry if they’re a bit much.”

Bucky dropped her head back onto the bed and waved one of her hands in the air noncommittally. “No, it’s not that, I just-” she trailed off.

“Needed a break?” Steve asked, knowingly. Bucky felt the bed shift as he sat down next to her.

She turned her head to look at him but ended up more staring at this back instead. “We’re lying to a lot of people, you know.”

Steve sighed. “Yeah.”

Bucky went back to staring at the ceiling. The ceiling didn’t give her complicated feelings. “Your friends have been worrying about you.”

There was a _whoompf_ as Steve threw himself backwards next to her. “Yeah” he sighed, sounding defeated. “I don’t want to lie to them.”

“Then why exactly are we?”

Steve sounded as muddled as Bucky felt. “I don’t think I know anymore.”

~~~

They arranged themselves out on the porch and watched the sun go down to recover from a truly horrifying amount of barbeque.

“Ok, ok,” Steve slurred, “I’ll go. Never have I ever, ummm… stolen a car!” he waved his beer triumphantly.

“No fair,” Clint grumbled, taking a drink. “You can’t use stuff I’ve told you about against me.”

Wanda took a drink as well, prompting Sam to gasp, “ _Wanda_!”

Wanda shrugged, seemingly nonchalant. “You don’t know everything about me.”

“Bucky’s turn,” Steve prompted, elbowing her. She thought hard for a minute. She’d had a lot to drink. It was getting hard to come up with something. “Never have I ever, um, pole danced.”

She looked on in joy and horror both as Steve took a drink. “Steve!” she tried to sound shocked but it dissolved into giggles instead.

Steve winked at her before swallowing and saying, “I’ll try anything once.”

Bucky couldn’t help imagining what Steve would look like undulating around a pole. Blushing, she forced her gaze away and focused on the other side of the circle, where Sam was saying, “Never have I ever been nude in public.”

Oh that was an easy one. Bucky took a swig from her drink and then shrugged at the group. “I get paid to pose for pictures.”

“Yeah, but those aren’t nude pictures usually, are they?” Natasha asked.

“I’ve done a handful of them. Sometimes it’s kinda interesting.”

“What’s the weirdest photo shoot you were ever in?” Sam asked.

She thought about it. “Um...one time I had to wear a dress made of cotton candy. I don’t know if that’s weird or just gross.”

“Was it gross?” Wanda asked

Bucky made a face at the memory. “Sticky.”

“Ew.”

She looked over at Steve, pressed up against her side, who was looking a little vacant. “Steve?” she questioned.

Steve blinked back into reality with a little jerk.

“You still with us?” she questioned. She couldn’t tell if it was just the light from the setting sun or if Steve was a little red, maybe.

“I think it might be time for bed.” Steve said, draining the last of his beer.

“Ooh,” Clint called, “someone’s having impure thoughts about cotton candy.”

“Wha- I’m not- _no_ ,” Steve stammered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Steve was definitely blushing now. Bucky started giggling and found that she couldn’t stop.

Steve grabbed her hand and stood up, pulling her to her feet. “Come on,” he muttered, shooting Clint a dirty look, “we’re going to bed.”

A chorus of hoots and wolf-whistles followed them into the house as Bucky wobbled after Steve, still giggling. She was mostly using his grasp on her hand to keep herself upright… she might’ve had just a little more to drink than she’d thought.

She held it in until they reached the bedroom before she whispered, loudly, “they think we’ve come up here to have _sex_!”

Steve leaned in towards her conspiratorially. “I _know_ ,” he whisper-shouted back. “I did that on purpose.”

Bucky tipped forward into Steve’s shoulder. “You’re so smart.” she said into his neck. She pushed herself upright and shook her head, trying to clear it. “But we’re not going to have sex.”

“Right”

“Because we’re not really in love.”

“Right”

She nodded to herself. “Right.” Turning away, she headed towards her suitcase. “I’m going to… take a bath.” She said, mostly to herself. She thought she heard Steve say, as she walked away, “because we’re not in love. Right.”

~~~

She stared at the bed.

The bed stared back at her.

Steve, next to her, started, “I can sleep on the floor-”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she interrupted him, “we’re grown adults; we can share a bed.”

“I don’t have to-”

“Steve.” She turned her head to shoot him a look. “Get in the goddamn bed.” She ordered, pointing at the left side. When she was satisfied that he was moving, she arranged herself on the other side. It was a king-size bed; there may as well’ve been a mile between the two of them, they had so much space, and yet Bucky felt like she was suffocating from how close they were. She tried not to think about how easily she could just roll over and touch Steve.

Lying stiffly on her back, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep. Tried to think soothing thoughts. She kept getting distracted by the sound of Steve’s breathing, which felt deafening.

“Stop thinking so loud.” Steve’s voice broke the silence.

Bucky huffed a laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A rustle of movement occurred next to her: Steve turning on his side to face her. The moonlight coming in through the window was just enough that she could make out the curve of Steve’s face in the dark.

“Do you think this was a really bad idea?” Steve asked, quietly.

Bucky sighed, closing her eyes. “I don’t know, Steve. I don’t know why I even agreed to this in the first place.”

“Because you just find me so charming and you couldn’t say no.”

That made her laugh. “Yeah, that must be it.”

“It’ll be a funny story one day.” Steve said, a note of finality in his voice. “Good night, Bucky.”

“Good night, Steve.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks very much for the comments and kudos over this long break, everyone. And to that one person who sent me a nice anon on tumblr, I didn't respond to it but I did see it and it was very nice! Enjoy your chapter! :)

**Author's Note:**

> I promise I actually love Peggy so much, for the sake of this story she kinda did despicable things but really I love her? I’m so sorry Peggy.
> 
> My tumblr is [here](http://pantsaremandatory.tumblr.com) if you’re interested.


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